1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to transportable carts for medical use and, more particularly, to transportable case carts having drawers for holding medical supplies needed in a particular medical procedure or case and to methods of assembling and using transportable medical carts.
2. Brief Discussion of the Related Art
Transportable or mobile carts having casters or wheels are commonly used in medical settings, such as hospitals, for quickly and conveniently transporting medical supplies or equipment from place to place. To facilitate the mobility of transportable medical carts, it is desirable that the carts be structurally stable and conducive to being manually pushed and pulled. It is also desirable that transportable medical carts be capable of withstanding the rigors of hospital use, in which the carts may be bumped, jarred or otherwise forcefully impacted. Transportable medical carts typically must be sanitized for repeated use, and it is thusly desirable for the carts to be quickly and easily disassemblable for sanitization and quickly and easily reassemblable for reuse. Prior transportable medical carts, as represented in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,281,020 and 4,616,890 to Romick, Nos. 3,834,778 and 3,3,708,709 to Morrison et al, and No. 3,428,383 to Nobel, possess complex or cumbersome hardware, making disassembly and reassembly of the carts tedious and time consuming. Furthermore, prior transportable medical carts possess structural seams which, in addition to exposed hardware, may trap dirt and germs and thusly compromise sanitization.
Medical carts and cabinets having slidable drawers have been proposed, as illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,270 to Czarnecky et al, Nos. 5,281,020 and 4,616,890 to Romick, Nos. 3,834,778 and 3,708,709 to Morrison et al, No. 3,428,383 to Nobel, and No. 724,125 to Prindle. Medical carts having slidable drawers are particularly advantageous since the drawers can be used to hold various medical supplies or equipment in an organized manner. Many, if not all, of the medical items needed for a particular medical procedure or case can be contained in a medical cabinet as discussed in the Czarnecky et al patent. The cabinet disclosed by Czarnecky et al is stationary, and it would be more desirable to provide all of the medical items needed for a particular medical procedure or case in the drawers of a transportable or mobile medical cart, which may be called a medical case cart. The medical procedure or case for which a medical case cart is provided can be enhanced by locating or storing the medical case cart proximate the site at which the medical procedure or case is expected to be performed. Accordingly, it is desirable for medical case carts to be designed with a relatively small xe2x80x9cfootprintxe2x80x9d to minimize the physical space required for the carts and to permit storage of the carts in relatively small areas or spaces.
Medical carts and cabinets having removable drawers have been proposed, as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,270 to Czarnecky et al, Nos. 5,281,020 and 4,616,890 to Romick, and No. 3,428,383 to Nobel. Carts and cabinets not specifically designed for medical use but having removable drawers have also been proposed, and are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,240 to Kelley et al and No. 3,918,781 to Paris. A disadvantage associated with prior carts and cabinets having removable drawers is that the drawers are difficult to remove and replace, commonly requiring the manipulation or disengagement of mechanical components and/or awkward or complicated maneuvering of the drawers.
Another disadvantage of many prior transportable medical carts is that the carts fail to provide a sufficiently large support surface for use as an operating table to support medical equipment and/or to support a patient. U.S. Pat. No. 724,125 to Prindle discloses a medical cabinet that converts to an operating table. In order to implement the conversion, however, all objects must be removed from the top of the cabinet in order to permit pivoting of an extension that normally overlies the cabinet top. Also, the extension must be supported by an extraneous door hinged to a side wall of the cabinet. U.S. Pat. No. 3,428,383 to Nobel discloses a transportable medical cart having a hinged extension supportable by a hinged brace. U.S. Pat. No. 2,004,296 to Royce discloses a wheeled dining table having hinged side extensions supportable by slides, respectively, which are selectively extendable from and retractable within a chest or cabinet forming a central portion of the dining table. Des. 357,781 to Crinion discloses a mobile caddy having a side extension supported by a separate brace. Prior carts, cabinets, chests and caddies that are provided with hinged extensions are disadvantageous for the additional major structural support members required to support the extensions. Prior carts, cabinets, chests and caddies having hinged extensions are undesirable for use in a medical environment due to their structural and mechanical complexity, relatively greater number of parts, decreased ease of transportability and use, and inability to be sanitized to medical standards.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages of prior transportable medical carts.
Another object of the present invention is to allow rapid conversion of a transportable medical cart to an operating table without the addition of any major structural support members.
A further object of the present invention is to convert a medical cart to an operating table via hinged extensions supportable by the side walls of the medical cart.
An additional object of the present invention is to facilitate disassembly and reassembly of a transportable medical cart.
The present invention also has as an object to facilitate removal and replacement of the slidable drawers of a medical case cart.
Yet another object of the present invention is to permit the slidable drawers of a medical case cart to be removed from the cart via a simple lifting motion of the drawers off of slide rails of the cart.
The present invention has as a further object to permit the slidable drawers of a medical case cart to be removed from the cart and thereafter replaced in the cart via a simple lowering motion of the drawers onto slide rails of the cart.
It is also an object of the present invention to enhance sanitization of a medical case cart to medical standards.
Some of the advantages of the present invention are that the medical cart can be assembled or disassembled in a matter of minutes, the medical cart has a small xe2x80x9cfootprintxe2x80x9d and can be stored in a patient""s hospital room, the medical cart is stable and can be easily wheeled from place to place, the medical cart is capable of sustaining impacts typically encountered in a hospital setting, the medical cart can be converted to an operating table without having to remove any objects from the top of the cart, no extraneous major structural members are required for supporting the extensions used to form the operating table since the extensions are supported by side walls, respectively, of the medical cart, no pivotal or other awkward or complicated movement of the drawers is required to remove the drawers from or to replace the drawers upon the slide rails, no mechanical components or hardware are required to be manipulated in order to remove the drawers from or to replace the drawers upon the slide rails, the drawers are provided with peripheral lips facilitating manual grasping thereof, the drawers can be rearranged within the medical cart, the medical cart can accept drawers of different vertical heights, the number of structural parts in the medical cart is minimized, the medical cart does not present any exposed hardware or seams which would interfere with the efficacy of medical sanitization, and the medical cart is durable to sustain repeated disassemblies, sanitizations and reassemblies.
These and other objects, advantages and benefits are realized in the present invention as generally characterized in a transportable medical cart including a wheeled frame assembly and a plurality of panels removably, pivotally mounted on the frame assembly. The frame assembly includes a plurality of interconnected uprights and cross members defining an interior within which a plurality of drawer assemblies are mounted. The removable, pivotally mounted panels include a pair of vertical side panels and a pair of extension panels. The side panels have a retracted position in which the side panels are disposed on opposite sides of the frame assembly in parallel planes, respectively, perpendicular to a horizontal top panel of the frame assembly. The extension panels are pivotally mounted on the frame assembly and have a non-extended position in which the extension panels are disposed vertically over the side panels, respectively, in the retracted position. The extension panels are movable from the non-extended position to an extended position in which the extension panels are horizontally aligned with the top panel to form an operating table. The side panels are pivotally mounted on the frame assembly for movement from the retracted position to a non-retracted position in which the side panels are disposed outwardly of the frame assembly at an acute angle to the parallel planes, respectively, to support the extension panels in the extended position. When the side panels are moved to the non-retracted position, they are automatically releasably locked to the corresponding extension panels in the extended position via securing mechanisms, respectively.
Each drawer assembly includes a slide rail removably supportable on a cooperating pair of guide rails of the frame assembly and a drawer removably supportable by gravity on the slide rail. The slide rail includes a pair of parallel side rails connected by a cross rail and having bearing bosses protruding laterally outwardly therefrom, respectively. The bearing bosses of the side rails are removably insertable in guide channels of the cooperating pair of guide rails, respectively, and are slidable in the guide channels to slidingly mount the slide rail. Each drawer includes a pair of shoulders on opposite sides thereof, respectively, supportable by gravity on the side rails, respectively. The slide rails are slidable with the drawers, respectively, relative to the frame assembly from a fully inserted position wherein the drawers are disposed within the interior to a fully withdrawn position wherein the drawers are disposed externally of the interior. When the slide rails and drawers are in the fully withdrawn position, the drawers can be removed from the slide rails via a simple vertical lifting motion and can be replaced upon the slide rails via a simple lowering motion.
A method of assembling a transportable medical cart according to the present invention is generally characterized in the steps of releasably engaging a top panel hinge part on a top panel with a top panel complementary hinge part on a frame assembly to removably mount the top panel on the frame assembly, the frame assembly including a plurality of interconnected uprights and cross members defining an interior and a caster at a lower end of each upright; pivoting the top panel about the releasably engaged top panel and top panel complementary hinge parts to lie horizontally over a top of the frame assembly perpendicular to a back panel of the frame assembly; releasably engaging side panel hinge parts on a pair of side panels, respectively, with side panel complementary hinge parts, respectively, on the frame assembly to removably mount the side panels on the frame assembly; pivoting the side panels about the releasably engaged side panel and side panel complementary hinge parts to lie vertically over opposite sides, respectively, of the frame assembly perpendicular to the top panel; releasably engaging extension panel hinge parts on a pair of extension panels, respectively, with extension panel complementary hinge parts, respectively, on the frame assembly to removably mount the extension panels on the frame assembly; pivoting the extension panels about the releasably engaged extension panel and extension panel complementary hinge parts to lie vertically over the side panels, respectively, substantially perpendicular to the top panel and substantially parallel with the side panels, respectively; removably mounting a plurality of slide rails in the interior of the frame assembly for horizontal sliding movement; and supporting a plurality of drawers on the slide rails, respectively, for movement with the slide rails between fully inserted and fully withdrawn positions.
A method of converting a transportable medical cart to an operating table is generally characterized in the steps of pivoting left and right extension panels of a transportable medical cart upwardly from a non-extended position wherein the left and right extension panels are disposed vertically over parallel left and right side panels, respectively, of the transportable medical cart, to an extended position wherein the left and right extension panels are disposed in horizontal alignment with a horizontal top panel of the transportable medical cart; pivoting the left and right side panels outwardly from the frame assembly to support the left and right extension panels, respectively, in the extended position; and releasably locking the left and right side panels to the left and right extension panels, respectively, in the extended position.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like parts in each of the several figures are identified by the same reference numerals or by reference numerals having the same last two digits.